Press Releases
News from the Republican Party and Elected Officials
Press Releases
Donna Gallup announces she is a candidate for House District 53.
Matt Fries Press Release for CO Senate 14th District
Tom Donnelly Press Release for County Commissioner 3rd District
Ron Paul Press Releases
Brush replaces Haynes as county GOP
chairman
By Kathryn Dailey
The Reporter-Herald
FORT COLLINS — As the new Larimer County Republican Party chairman, Fort Collins attorney Kirk Brush will work to foster party unity and get Republicans elected into office, he said Monday.
On Saturday, Larimer County Republican Party Central Committee members elected Brush to serve the rest of former Chairman Ed Haynes’ term, which ends in February 2009.
Haynes resigned earlier this month after he and his wife, Georgia, received an unexpected invitation to serve an 18-month mission for their church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
They will be performing administrative duties for the mission office in Edmonton, Alberta, in Canada.
“I believe (Brush will) be a solid leader for the party,” Haynes said. “I look forward to watching the party grow under his leadership.”
Brush, who has lived in Fort Collins for 21 years, served as chairman of the 53rd State House District for 12 years and ran for state representative against Democrat Angie Paccione in 2002.
“I was fairly familiar with how things happen, and I know how things work,” Brush said.
At the time of the committee meeting, Brush was the only remaining nominee for the position, he said.
Brush announced his intent to run about a month ago when Haynes first began discussing his pending resignation.
“There was a feeling, at least among some of the local Republicans, that I
could step in fairly noncontroversially into Ed’s position,” he said.
Original Article at the Loveland Reporter Herald
http://www.reporterherald.com/Top-Story.asp?ID=13099
Schaffer: 'This is a race we can win'
GOP candidate for Senate says Coloradans should be dissatisfied with Dems in
control
By John Fryar
The Daily Times-Call
LONGMONT -Coloradans should be dissatisfied with what they've seen in eight
months of a Democratic-controlled Congress, GOP Senate candidate for Bob
Schaffer said Wednesday.
Speaking to the more than 70 people attending the Boulder County Republican
Party's annual summer picnic, Schaffer charged that Democrats' congressional
track record has included "efforts toward higher taxes," "efforts to erode
American industry and commerce," "deliberate efforts to surrender in Iraq," and
a "strategy of weakness."
Schaffer, a former 4th District congressman from Fort Collins, neither named nor
specifically attacked his Democratic rival in Colorado's 2008 U.S. Senate
contest, 2nd District U.S. Rep. Mark Udall of Eldorado Springs.
Instead, Schaffer attacked Democrats in general and congressional Democratic
leaders in particular, arguing that Coloradans do not want continued control by
what he called "the party of weakness, defeat, despair and hopelessness."
Schaffer also admonished his fellow Republicans, though, that in preparing for
next year's election battles, the GOP has to return to such root themes as
"lower taxes, more personal freedom, more prosperity."
Meanwhile, the Colorado U.S. Senate post that's up for election next year is the
No. 1 priority seat for the Republicans in the country," Schaffer said.
"This is a race we can win," he assured the GOP picnickers gathered at the
Boulder County Fairgrounds.
Before Schaffer arrived, county Republican chairwoman Marty Neilson expressed
pleasure at the number of people showing up at the picnic shelter on what had
earlier threatened to be a stormy August night.
Neilson said she was especially heartened because "there's lots of people here
I've never seen before."
While Schaffer was the featured speaker at the event, he wasn't the only one
there who's seeking office in next year's elections.
Another was Republican Nick Kliebenstein, a Broomfield financial adviser who
announced last month that he'll be challenging incumbent Broomfield Democratic
Rep. Dianne Primavera when she seeks re-election to the Legislature's House
District 33 seat next year.
Also in attendance was Catherine Jarrett of Longmont, who lost a Colorado House
District race to incumbent Boulder Democrat Jack Pommer last year but has
volunteered for a rematch in 2008.
Picnickers also were treated to campaign pitches from two candidates in this
year's nonpartisan Longmont City Council contests: Bonnie Finley, who's vying
with Sean McCoy for the council's Ward III seat; and Gabe Santos, who's
competing with Ariel Steele and Paul Tiger for an at-large seat.
Santos also attended the county GOP's executive committee meeting in Boulder
last month as well as putting in an appearance at the Longmont Area Democrats'
own summer picnic in Longmont on Aug. 1.
Other candidates for nonpartisan seats attending that backyard Democratic
gathering included Steele, McCoy, and Karen Benker, who's running for mayor
against Roger Lange and Doug Brown.
John Fryar can be reached at 303-684-5211 or
jfryar@times--call.com.
Bob Schaffer on 9 News
Continuing its commitment to giving you the opportunity to quiz your
political leaders, we brought in U.S. Senate candidate Bob Schaffer, who is
hoping to be elected as a Republican to replace Sen. Wayne Allard (R-Colorado)
in the November 2008 election. Rep. Mark Udall (D-Colorado), who is the
Democratic Party candidate for the seat, was an earlier guest on YOUR SHOW.
Schaffer spoke about everything from federal spending to term limits to the
future of Colorado's Republican Party. He answered questions from Jerry
Korytkowski, Derek Deas, Linda Johnson, Steven S. from Denver, John Spencer,
William Rust, James Reed, Timothy B. from Greeley and Wesley, who's a 4th grader
in Lakewood.
U.S.
Senate candidate Bob Schaffer answers your questions. YOUR SHOW. 7/8/07
Musgrave talks with
lawmakers from 4th District
Immigration, transportation among breakfast topics
|
JOHNSTOWN - Transportation and
immigration were hot topics at a legislative breakfast hosted Monday by Rep.
Marilyn Musgrave. Musgrave was joined by 30 lawmakers from the 4th Congressional District at Johnson's Corner to hear concerns and comments about issues they feel are important to people in Northern Colorado. "I'm very respectful of local government officials and their concerns because as locally elected officials they are more likely to have people in the area contact them to talk about issues," Musgrave said after the breakfast. "It's interesting because the issues I have heard brought up here today (by the lawmakers) are the same ones people have been calling my office to talk about." A lack of funding for transportation needs and infrastructure and more border control to control illegal immigration were the most talked about political issues at the breakfast. "The biggest issue facing us right now is illegal immigrants in our system and what to do about it," Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden told Musgrave. "We are looking at ways to get funding for the (influx) of illegal immigrants into our system. It's really an important issue to us." Larimer County Commissioner Kathay Rennels reiterated to Musgrave the drain illegal immigration is having on the system. "These folks end up using our social services and that becomes expensive," Rennels said. "(The burden) really ends up falling back on the counties." Not surprisingly, transportation, and the Regional Transportation Authority, were the other hot topics mentioned by many area lawmakers. The RTA, which Fort Collins City Council voted last month not to participate in, would combine 13 government agencies in the north part of the state to work on bringing more than $400 million in transportation and transit projects during the next decade. Many have said the RTA is needed because the federal government and the Colorado Department of Transportation are not adequately funding transportation needs throughout the state. The state has a projected shortfall of almost $103 billion in transportation needs, said Russell George, director of the Colorado Department of Transportation, at a Colorado Municipal League conference last week. "Transportation funding for us is huge," state Rep. Don Marostica, R-Loveland, said. "If we could just get another half of a cent back from what the state already gives to the federal government (for transportation) that would make a really big difference." Fort Collins Rep. Randy Fischer was the only Democrat to attend the bipartisan breakfast. Musgrave invited every locally elected official in the area. "I came because I wanted to hear what other elected officials from the area are seeing and what they think is important," Fischer said.
Congresswoman meets the people at the pumps Drivers received a surprise when their congresswoman asked them if she could pump their gas. Rep. Marilyn Musgrave, R-Colo., offered a hand to those filling up at the West Shore Automotive Cenex, 1201 W. Eisenhower Blvd., Monday morning. “It’s a way for me to talk to my constituents,” Musgrave said. The congresswoman from Fort Morgan said that most of the people she spoke to were shocked to see her but appreciated the chance to talk to her. “This is an opportunity (for them) to say whatever they want,” she said. Some drivers took the opportunity to kid around with her. “She didn’t offer to pay (for the gas) though,” one constituent joked. The most common issue that people wanted to talk about was immigration, Musgrave said. Last week, the U.S. Senate scuttled a bill that would have offered illegal immigrants an opportunity to pay penalties in return for consideration for citizenship as well as setting benchmarks for increased border security. The House never had the chance to offer an opinion on the measure. Carol Ann Scott of Loveland said that the representative’s hours in the sun showed that she was trying to make contact with her constituents. “I think it proves she’s human,” Scott said. After working in Loveland, Musgrave pumped gasoline to customers at a gas station in Fort Collins.
All contents Copyright © 2007 Daily Reporter-Herald. All rights reserved |
Former congressman says conservatives should have opposed No Child Left Behind law
Jim Brown OneNewsNow.comMarch 5, 2007
Former Colorado Congressman Bob Schaffer says conservative leaders in Washington, DC, have lacked the ingenuity needed to reform America's struggling public schools. The one-time Republican representative, who now serves as vice chairman of the Colorado State Board of Education, believes education is the number-one topic confronting America.
Hear This Report
Schaffer was in Washington recently to deliver a lecture at the Heritage Foundation, a public policy research institute, on the fallout from the No Child Left Behind Act. According to the Colorado education official, conservatives in Washington have lacked the imagination and courage to grab the most important issue and reform it in a way that is consistent with other reforms they have championed.
"Somehow, when it has come to the most important topic confronting our nation, we have decided as conservatives to be content with a government-owned, unionized, bureaucratized monopoly," Schaffer contends. "And it's just gone on for too long," he says.
When it comes to education, the former U.S. congressman notes, more authority is "moving away from our neighborhoods and kitchen tables," and into Washington. And the No Child Left Behind Act, he says, is a massive intrusion into the authority of states represented by the federal government.
As Congress considers reauthorization of President Bush's signature education law, the outlook is grim for those who believe educational authority is best when resting with states and communities, Schaffer contends. "We know that the terms of this debate are going to be different," he says.
On the one hand, Schaffer points out, there is "a new Congress now, a different party in charge." And on the other hand, he says, "you have the same White House in charge. And the question is, where is the compromise going to come down."
The Colorado Education Board's vice president says if he were to make a guess as to the outcome of a legislative compromise, he would say "we're probably going to see No Child Left Behind be expanded, and the rules and regulations associated with it become greater."
The real question, Schaffer asserts, is what happens to states. "Are we going to force all 50 states to participate in a new regimen of more authority being centered here in Washington, DC?" he asks. The more authority is consolidated in Washington, Schaffer contends, the slimmer the chance becomes for meaningful education reforms across the United States.
Republicans pick Wadhams to head state
party
New GOP chief wastes no time to rip Dems
The Associated Press
CASTLE ROCK — Republicans unanimously picked Dick Wadhams to be the new chairman for the state Republican Party on Saturday, hoping he can lead them out of the political wilderness after they lost several key races in the past two elections.
Wadhams had no opposition at the party’s central committee meeting and was chosen by acclamation.
Wadhams said his first order of business will be to find a candidate for the U.S. Senate to replace GOP Sen. Wayne Allard, who is retiring next year, leaving an open seat.
Republicans are trying to prevent another defeat after recent losses, including a U.S. Senate seat, two U.S. House seats, the governor’s office and control of the Legislature.
Wadhams said Democrats have had a string of issues since taking power, including a bill that angered the business community that would have made it easier to form a union.
“We’ve already seen that they can’t control their own excesses. It’s a target-rich environment,” Wadhams said.
Wadhams ran successful GOP campaigns in Colorado, Montana and South Dakota, but last year he managed the failed campaign of Virginia Sen. George Allen, a potential presidential contender who blew a comfortable lead in the polls and lost his re-election bid.
Wadhams managed the campaign for Allard in 1996 and 2002 and for Bill Owens in 1998, when Owens became the first Republican elected governor of the state in 24 years.
In 2000, he managed Montana Sen. Conrad Burns’ successful campaign and turned it into a victory, and in South Dakota, he was credited with engineering the defeat of Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle in 2004.
In Virginia, Allen was comfortably ahead in polls until August, when he referred to the son of Indian immigrants as “Macaca,” regarded by some as a racial slur. The incident, caught on videotape, became international news.
Musgrave emphasizes bipartisanship
By Douglas Crowl
For the Reporter-Herald
Publish Date: 3/4/2007
Now in her third term in office — her first as a member of a minority party — U.S. Rep. Marilyn Musgrave and her staff want to shed more light on her bipartisan relationships and accomplishments.
As part of that mission, the Fort Morgan Republican sends out weekly “Bipartisan Alerts,” press releases documenting her partnerships with Democrats.
Musgrave’s staff began sending the releases to media outlets last month, though the public also can sign up for them through the congresswoman’s Web site, Musgrave spokesman Aaron Johnson said.
The bulletins have detailed such things as the congresswoman’s work with U.S. Rep. John Salazar, a Democrat from Antonito, on bills supporting agriculture and a water project in the Arkansas Valley, and a bill she co-sponsored with U.S. Rep. Mark Udall, a Boulder
County Democrat, to further exempt taxing on traded water shares.
Musgrave also co-sponsored a bill with U.S. Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-N.Y., to prohibit forced genetic testing by health in-
surance providers and employers who might seek to exclude a person based on genetic makeup.
The press releases are intended to focus on what Musgrave is doing in Washington, not on bipartisanism, Johnson said.
“The congresswoman, regardless of Republicans or Democrats being in the majority, looks for ways to help the state, not based on party designation,” he said.
Ken Bickers, a political science professor at the University of Colorado, said Musgrave’s press release strategy is a smart political move.
“It hits all the right buttons. She’s in the minority, and she faces tight re-election. I really don’t see a downside to this,” he said.
Looking at some of the issues she’s highlighted, such as agriculture and water, Musgrave is still playing a traditionally conservative role, he added.
While Republicans lost the House to Democrats in the November election, Musgrave won in the traditionally conservative 4th Congressional District over Democrat Angie Paccione and Reform Party candidate Eric Eidsness.
Musgrave garnered 46 percent of the vote, Paccione had 43 percent, and Eidsness — a former Republican — claimed 11 percent.
Both Paccione and Eidsness focused their campaigns on criticizing Musgrave’s support of the war in Iraq and her strong stance on traditional marriage.
Eidsness and Paccione each have said they’re considering running again in 2008.
Musgrave may be trying to redefine herself as someone who can reach across the aisle, Bickers said.
“(Voters) tend to remember things that are more immediate in their past,” he said.
Johnson said it’s easy for someone to chalk up the bipartisan alerts as politics, but he dismissed that interpretation.
“This is about better communication and reaching out,” he said.
ON THE NET:To sign up for Rep. Musgrave’s e-newsletter, go to http://musgrave.house.gov/
